07-16-2006, 02:48 PM
Quote:Having neither an endgame paladin nor a shaman, I cannot speak personally about this, but just from considering the way the paladin and shaman abilities work, I pretty much agree with the analysis. In a raid situation, paladins bring a lot more to the table, buffs and all. It seems like there are a select few encounters where certain shaman totems give the advantage, but for everything else paladins give greater advantage.
With regards to the comments on enjoyment and paladin shortages... almost every single paladin I know is a player's first character; nobody ever creates a paladin as their alt. And almost every single one of those, if they've had the time and inclination to make one, has a second character which gets played more than the paladin (if the paladin gets played at all). There once was a time where we seemed to have nothing but paladins, but no longer. And while there never seems to be a shortage of paladins, in raids it seems like the paladin roster has been the most volatile, having seen the most changes in names over time. Perhaps someone else can speak to whether there is a similar situation with shamans; the few that I know seem to prefer playing another class over the shaman as well.
The buff analysis is spot-on. I can tell you that from playing tank for Alliance, and shaman for Horde in 40-mans. My shaman in MC will have 4 buffs: AB, PoF, GoW, DivSpi, and then whatever totems I have up, which may or may not do anything for me, depending on who I'm in group with. My warrior in MC or BWL or AQ will have those 4 buffs, and BoMight, BoKings, BoLight, BoSanctuary sometimes, too. (Salvation isn't something I use much, as a dedicated prot tank)
GG's analysis of 'fun' and shaman flexibility is pretty well right on, too. If you think 'raid guild' mentality, then you might as well not even take my shaman to raids. I basically play flex-shaman in raids. I heal when needed, I give whatever totems my group can use to their advantage, and do damage as much as I can afford the mana. I'm sure that either a healer or a dedicated DPS could put up more of either healing or damage on the numbers side. Yes, the flexibility of a shaman is a lot of fun to me. I feel that I can do what's *needed* at any given moment in the raid. I do change into more +heal gear when I *know* I'll need to heal more for a time period, but otherwise, I'm in my damage/heal gear, lots of int and stam and m/5. (my build is elemental/enhancement 30/21, with all the elemental damage stuff, the enhancement lets me WF with the Earthshaker nobody wanted). But, can I buff the raid like a pally? Not even close. Is my shaman more fun to play? Can't answer that, my highest pally is lvl 14. I know my shaman *is* fun to play, but is limited in raids somewhat. S
he really shines in 5-mans, as the totems can really help, and *will* help the whole group, and her flexibility helps, too. Got a dedicated healer in the group? Woohoo, time to start nuking, just keep an eye out for secondary heal needs. No dedicated healer? Ok, I can help another shammy heal, and still smack stuff with my big hammer, and toss in a nuke, depending on how much healing is needed. Need an offtank? Sure, let me put on my shield. With healing support, I can offtank any but the heaviest hitters for a bit. And yes, I *can* get aggro on them. Earthshock and rockbiter ftw.
So, yeah, the issue exists. GG and Mongo both have valid points.
--Mav